Superheroes have come a long way from their humble beginnings. Superman burst onto the scene as a physical marvel the likes of which the world had never seen, but even then, his only powers were super strength, senses, and mild indestructibility. He was limited to only leaping an eighth of a mile, for example. Of course, superheroes very quickly decided to tackle much bigger threats, and to combat them, they became much stronger. Nowadays, Superman can fly across the universe and punch planets out of orbit. Plenty of other heroes are just as fantastic. The Flash can run circles around light, and Green Lanterns can make anything they can imagine.
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Of course, not every superhero has powers. In fact, plenty of incredible heroes have shown us that they’re more than capable of standing alongside their superpowered peers, and even surpassing them, with nothing more than their skills and wits. Today, we’re taking a look at seven non-powered DC heroes who have proven that they can do even more than most heroes with all sorts of superpowers. To keep things fair, we’re also not counting heroes who use advanced weapons or suits that mimic powers, like Green Lanterns or Steel. With all that said, let’s dive right into it.
7) Blue Beetle
Specifically, Ted Kord is our Blue Beetle of choice. His successor, Jaime Reyes, has become the most popular BB with his alien scarab and high-tech battlesuit, but Ted could never make the device work, which meant that he had to do everything on his own. Instead of relying on magic like his predecessor and alien tech like Jamie, he instead trained himself and built his own advanced technology. His training has definitely made him a formidable fighter, but that’s never been his forte. It’s even become a joke that he’s pretty out of shape compared to other heroes.
What really helps him stake his claim in the superhero community is his intelligence. He’s in the same league as characters like Batman and Mister Terrific, but his expertise is invention. Ted Kord is the guy you call when you need some kind of esoteric or sci-fi machine designed and built fast. Ted will draft the plans, make it a reality, and probably throw on some beetle branding, just for kicks.
6) Green Arrow
Oliver Queen might not have superpowers, but he is the number one hero for tackling social issues. Ever since he became a hard-travelling hero alongside Green Lantern, Ollie has made it his mission to fight for the little guy and push for change in very real ways. Punching a boulder into smithereens won’t help people deal with landlords who continuously raise their rent, after all. Green Arrow is plugged into that style of activism and heroism in ways that most heroes aren’t, giving him a major edge in fixing the systemic issues they all battle.
Beyond just his activism, Ollie has huge advantages that most powered heroes don’t because of his connections. Everybody knows Green Arrow, and most people trust him, which gives him major freedom in how he gets help and fights. He’s seen and worked with practically every major superhero, and he’s learned how to fight alongside and against all of them. He might just be a man with a bow, but he’s used that bow to bring down threats as huge as Prometheus. He’s a hero who can go the distance, even when nobody expects him to.
5) Batgirl
Every member of the Bat-Family is one of the most useful and accomplished heroes in the world. They’re all master detectives, combatants, and overall experts in every field that a superhero could want to study. Of course, each member has their own specialization that they excel at, with some even beating Batman in skill in certain areas. For Cassandra Cain, that’s combat. She’s one of the greatest fighters in the world and arguably is the best one alive. She can outfight everyone from Lady Shiva on down, and that’s the absolute pinnacle of martial skill.
Cass was raised with movement as her first language, which lets her interpret every miniscule amount of body language better than everybody else. She can see someone tense their arm and know exactly how they plan on striking her, which gives her a major edge in addition to her unmatched skills. Batgirl’s pure fighting skills let her punch way above her weight class. Even beyond combat, her talent gives her a unique perspective and practically functions as a built-in lie detector. Cass can truly do it all, and nobody can fight like her.
4) The Question
DC took its name from Detective Comics, paying homage to how noir stories and mysteries gave the company its start. To that end, there are a ton of detectives running around the universe, and the Question is one of the very best. Vic Sage rides the line between an incredible detective and a kooky conspiracy theorist. He’s obsessed with pursuing questions until he perfectly understands everything, and that drive emboldens him to track leads that most others would have given up on a long time ago.
He pursues questions because he’s always chasing answers to deep, psychological questions that nobody seems to have the answers to. Of course, as great a detective as he is, that doesn’t mean that he can’t throw a mean punch when he has to. Vic has been trained by two of the best in the world, Lady Shiva and Richard Dragon. Vic can fight more than well enough to carry himself through most situations, and his incessant desire to understand things has pushed him to figure out everything.
3) Oracle
For some time after she was paralyzed, it seemed that Barbara Gordon’s superhero career was over. Of course, she proved everyone wrong by coming back better than ever, even if she couldn’t leave her chair. Babs reinvented herself as an information broker and technological master. Nobody understood computers better than she did, and that meant that there was no information that she couldn’t get her hands on. Babs quickly became the central source of information for the Bat-Family and, eventually, became the connective tissue that united heroes of all kinds.
Even today, after having returned to being Batgirl, Babs’s time as Oracle remains some of her most influential. Whenever someone needs information or help with any kind of computer issue, Barbara Gordon is the woman to call. Being a superhero isn’t all about fighting, after all. Babs is the person who figures out how and who the heroes have to fight. She can unearth secrets that nobody else could and optimise it all to give the heroes the best chances of success in the least amount of time.
2) Mister Terrific
Mister Terrific is one of the smartest people on the planet. The only two who are even on his level are Batman and Lex Luthor, and when those two are your only competition, you know you’re at the absolute peak of your area of expertise. For Mister Terrific, it’s probably better to call them his areas of expertise because he excels at practically everything he puts his mind to. He’s a true polymath, meaning that he has skills across practically every area he’s studied. To put that into perspective, he has fourteen PhDs.
Especially in recent years, Mister Terrific has become the de facto person that even the world’s smartest heroes go to when they need to solve a problem. Heck, even Batman turns to him when he needs someone smart to give him input. This isn’t even talking about Terrific’s insane tech, which regularly closes the gap between him and any adversity that he faces. He’s the number-one super-intelligent hero to rely on. When you need to think your way out of a jam, Mister Terrific is the first person to call.
1) Batman
I don’t need to explain how Batman outshines countless heroes with powers that could end the world. The Dark Knight is one of DC’s biggest and most important heroes of all, even though, at the end of the day, he’s just a man. He’s the ultimate jack of all trades, being nearly the best in the world at literally everything he attempts. He can fight entire crowds of villains at once and solve any mystery, but what really sets Batman apart are his tactics. He’s famous for his countermeasures, and for very good reason, as his plans are more effective at stopping his fellow heroes than ninety percent of all villains’ plans.
Beyond even his skills, Batman has cultivated a reputation that does more work than superpowers ever could. Just the thought of facing the Batman is enough to strike fear into criminals’ hearts, and often that’s enough to make them think twice. Everybody respects Batman because if you don’t, you’re going to learn why you should very, very quickly. Batman is the most feared hero around, and he uses that to inspire and terrorize to save the day. Batman is one of DC’s most important heroes, and that will never change.
Which non-powered heroes do you think have the best showing? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
